UND Homecoming Court candidates Kyle See-Rockers, Katy Wilson, John Mitzel and Ken McGurran serve ice cream to students at Tuesday’s ice cream social. The Homecoming King and Queen will be announced Saturday at the football game. Photo by Chester Beltowski/ The Dakota Student.

Tuesday afternoon, the candidates for 2013 Homecoming royalty served ice cream to passersby in the Memorial Union to encourage students to vote in this week’s election.

Voting was open to all students at the Pep Fest this past Wednesday. Winners, however, will not be announced until Saturday.

In the meantime, the candidates for Homecoming King and Queen have been helping with Homecoming events and advocating their campaigns.

Senior Katy Wilson was nominated last week by her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, to run for Homecoming Queen. Having transferred to UND as a sophomore just two years ago, Wilson believes she has an uncommon perspective on campus.

“I think that fact that I’ve been to another school, that I’ve experienced student life somewhere else, gives me a unique edge,” Wilson said as she scooped ice cream into plastic cups Tuesday afternoon. “I think it really makes me appreciate everything that UND has to offer and everything that I’ve gained from my student life at UND.”

According to senior Kelly Churchill, the president of this year’s Homecoming Committee, the 10 royalty nominees have been busy this week. They all attended the Homecoming Kick-off Breakfast on Monday morning, the ice cream social on Tuesday, the pep fest on Wednesday and will attend the Catch the Spirit Celebration on Friday.

Though the nominees are not required to attend these events, Churchill said they are encouraged to come to assist with the events in any way they can.

“It’s been really fast-paced,” Wilson said.

Wilson and the other candidates were only nominated early last week. Kelly said a panel of four judges then interviewed the nominees about their involvement and leadership on campus and their school spirit. The panel included two professors, one alumni center employee and a Wellness Center faculty member.

“It worked well this year,” Kelly said. “That’s how we’ve done it in the previous years.”

Prize

Along with the honor of receiving a crown for becoming Homecoming King or Queen, the chosen individuals will be given the responsibility of a cash prize they may donate to any group on campus. Kelly said that most candidates choose the groups that nominated them to receive the donation, but not all.

The money to be donated comes from the sale of Homecoming T-shirts this week.

Senior psychology and honors major Ken McGurran was nominated to run for Homecoming King by the faculty of the honors program.

“I agreed because I really respect all the honors faculty,” McGurran said. “That it came from them meant a lot to me, so I figured I kind of owed it to them to do it … If I were to be elected, I would donate the money to them to help their program.”

He said that the honors faculty members usually decide amongst themselves which of their students would be a good contender for Homecoming royalty and nominate individuals who will run in their name.

Though he was not positive about how the donation would be spent if it were awarded to the honors program, McGurran said the extra funding would most likely supplement the honors program’s events budget, which will allow it to provide better food and more entertainment at honors program events.

As a native of Grand Forks, McGurran finds running for Homecoming King to be about more than just school pride.

“I guess it’s a little more special in that I’ve been a part of the UND community since I was a kid,” he said. “It’s more than just college; I’m representing my hometown too.

“And of course it’s been really fun to meet the people. So why wouldn’t I do it?”

Homecoming royalty will be announced on Saturday at the UND football game at the Alerus Center. Other candidates for Homecoming King are Zachery Vetter, Jacob Nelson, John Mitzel and Kyle See-Rockers. The other Homecoming Queen nominees are Kate Berg, Katie Fletcher, Katrina Kotta and Molly Sandro.

“No one is going to know until halftime at the football game,” Wilson said. “So everyone should come. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Will Beaton is the managing/opinion editor of The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]